This Garmin does things the Apple Watch Ultra can’t

Did you know there are smartwatches on the market today that can blow away the Apple Watch Ultra? take Garmin Fenix ​​7X Solar Sapphire Edition.

I already own a Apple Watch Ultra since its release in September 2022 and it has been on my wrist almost continuously for the past eight months, except while charging, a couple of times its presence on my wrist is annoying and when i swing the kettlebell around a couple of times a week. (Because no matter how hard it is, it won’t cause the watch face to hit the watch face repeatedly.)

And it has accompanied me through many adventures. Walking, hiking, or on photography trips or flying with a drone, the Apple Watch Ultra is a constant companion. It’s raining, snowing, ice, and heat waves. I’ve worn it while sweating while climbing and while relaxing in the hot tub.

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Sure, I didn’t take it to Mount Everest or run super marathons, but there was a time when it was my only light and even my only connection to the world at large.

But it’s had a pretty rough life for sure so far and it’s given me a really good idea of ​​the device’s strengths and weaknesses.

I tested other outdoor smartwatches alongside the Apple Watch Ultra. (Yes, I’ve worn two watches, so what? All the cool kids wear two smartwatches.) All that testing has given me a good idea of ​​what the competition has to offer.

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OK, let’s get started with the Apple Watch Ultra. Over eight months of near-constant wear (I wear it on my left wrist, crown face down, because this way the crown doesn’t get bumped when my hands are in my pocket or wearing gloves) and the Ultra’s condition is still closer to perfect than I expected.

The sapphire crystal is flawless, while the titanium case has a few scratches and very light wear.

It’s a tough watch.

Battery life is also good (for Apple Watch). I can expect about three days of battery life before starting to worry, but heavy use of the maps or fitness features can reduce that to a few days.

Not bad for the Apple Watch, but there are smartwatches on the market that have outstanding performance.

take Garmin Fenix ​​7X Solar Sapphire Edition that I wore with my Apple Watch Ultra. This Garmin has been charged once and has been running for almost two weeks without charging, and it still says six days of normal use (or 90 days if I put it in battery saver mode).

It lasted so long that I’m not sure where I put the charging cable. (Yes, the Fenix ​​​7 series requires a proprietary charging cable.) The solar battery embedded in the watch face captures sunlight, giving it a little extra boost while I explore the outdoors.

In terms of toughness, the Fenix ​​​7X is doing well. However, I have discovered that the black DLC (diamond-like coating) finish has worn off. A small cosmetic thing, but if you like small cosmetic things, this could very well bother you.

In addition to battery life and coating, there are a few other ways that Garmin smartwatches beat Apple products outdoors.

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First, the Apple Watch Ultra relies heavily on that touchscreen. This is great for everyday use, but if you’re wearing gloves, or your hands are cold, or the screen is wet, that touchscreen becomes unwieldy. Get water on it and the touch input becomes extremely unreliable.

Although the Fenix ​​7X has a touchscreen, it also has buttons and those buttons make it a lot easier to operate the watch when wet or when wearing gloves.

I’m also a big fan of that big screen. Those big, fat letters and numbers were easy on my aging eyes. And Garmin has crammed a lot of information into that 1.4-inch screen.

It is easy to see no matter what the conditions are.

The Fenix ​​7X has an actual LED flashlight built into the watch that can go from white to red. This is a nice touch because it frees up the screen to remain a screen; The perfect flashlight for small tasks like reading maps and showing directions in an emergency.

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Finally, Garmin comes with topographic maps that are loaded onto the smartwatch (and there are also third-party maps that you can purchase, such as those by talking machine), eliminating the need for a cellular connection when exploring.

The Apple Watch Ultra has Apple Maps, and access to those depends on having an internet connection. I’m not aware of third-party offers that can fill the void.

This feels like a massive oversight for a watch advertised as designed for adventurers.

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The Apple Watch Ultra also has some other weak points. For example, the coordinates on the front home screen can take a long time to update — minutes, tens of minutes, sometimes more — making this feature more of a gimmick than a useful tool. Similarly, in the UK, our map uses a coordinate system called UK National Grid. Apple doesn’t support this (although there are apps that can convert the current location into the system), while Garmin smartwatches have no problem with this.

All these little things add up.

One thing I get asked quite often is how different smartwatches compare in accuracy of distance traveled and number of steps. All the devices I’ve tried with the Apple Watch Ultra agree within the 5% range. Which is more accurate? I can not tell.

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However, when it comes to the app ecosystem, Apple beats the competition. Pretty much every app you can think of already exists for the Apple Watch. By comparison, products for Garmin smartwatches are a bit limited.

Without a doubt, the Apple Watch Ultra is a great smartwatch. But pitted against a device like Garmin Fenix ​​7X Solar Sapphire highlights not only some of the Apple Watch’s weaknesses, but also differentiates a company that makes mass-market devices from one that really understands what’s important to people who spend a lot of time outdoors.